The history books tell us that in 1805, Horatio Nelson sent the British Navy into the Battle of Trafalgar with a simple, yet undeniably stirring charge.
"England expects that every man will do his duty," he said, or so it is claimed, and with that the troops headed off to fight the French.
For those who follow the world's other forms of football, the first two words of that sentence have taken on a different meaning in recent years. They are perennially attached to England's national sports teams, invoked with abandon by tabloid headline writers and St. George's cross-bearing fanatics.
While the English aren't technically at war with the French anymore, emotions still run high when the two nations meet on the soccer field.
Penn women's soccer coach Darren Ambrose and his assistant, Mick Statham, both native Englishmen, know full well the burden of great expectations.
They know it in the context of their country's national soccer team, which has gone 38 years without winning a major tournament, and they know it in the context of the now-defunct Philadelphia Charge, where they were assistant coaches.
Above all, they know the expectations that are upon their current team, the Quakers.
This is Ambrose's team, as much as or perhaps more than it is anyone else's. It is blessed with extraordinary attacking firepower, which he sees not only in games but in practice every day. It has a stout defense and sure-handed goalkeeping.
All those traits are due to his recruiting skills and endless desire to make Penn one of the top teams in the nation. This season should be a testament to him, the players he brought here and the great success they have already enjoyed together.
As with any sport, though, you have to play the games first. There is every reason to believe that Penn can win the Ivy League title this year. But so much can happen between now and the end of the season that I am reluctant to declare this team, or any other, the champions-to-be.
All the necessary evidence is just a short subway ride away at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue. For the third straight season, the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans are convinced that this really will be the year, we promise.
The Phillies started this season as everyone's pick to finally end the Atlanta Braves' dominance in the NL East, and collapsed faster than it takes Jim Thome to smash a ball into the right-field seats at Citizens Bank Park.
Really, this city and England have more in common than you might think.
There is also the ever-present question of injuries, which at times has been as much a concern for some of the fans at Rhodes Field as scoring goals.
But we know what this team is capable of, and it is capable of some great attacking soccer. Penn simply tore Vanderbilt to pieces last Friday, scoring three impressive goals.
When Jenna Linden pierced Texas A&M;'s backline with a through ball to Katy Cross, resulting in the Quakers' first goal of the season, it was a statement of the team's power that the nationally ranked Aggies heard loud and clear.
Of the 28 players currently on Penn's roster, 16 are listed as forwards, midfielders or some combination of the two. That gives the Quakers not only firepower but depth as well.
The defense has been strong as well, with its senior class leading the way. Lauren Bome, Carrie Johnson, Jessica Woodward and Amy Salomon have all made valuable contributions this year, and as our cliche book also reminds us, defense wins championships.
So what will it be, then? Will the Class of 2005 receive the sendoff it deserves, in the form of an Ancient Eight title? Or will we look back at this season and wonder where it all went wrong?
We can't know, which is why this sport drives people all over the world insane.
But I think that we can get away with, well, expecting good things from the Penn women's soccer team this season.
Jonathan Tannenwald is a junior Urban Studies major from Washington, D.C. His e-mail address is jtannenw@sas.upenn.edu.
